Germany's lengthy pandemic school closures hit migrant pupils hardest

Social worker Noor Zayed of the Stadtteilmuetter migrant integration project run by Protestant charity Diakonie speaks to Um Wajih, a Syrian mother of two children, in Berlin's district of Neukoelln, Germany May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BERLIN (Reuters) - When a teacher told Syrian mother Um Wajih that her 9-year-old son's German had deteriorated during his Berlin school's six-week shutdown, she was saddened but not surprised.

"Wajih had picked up German fast, and we were very proud of him," said the 25-year-old mother of two.